


Could You Love A Mudblood?

by OtteryStCatchpole



Category: Draco Malfoy - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26257675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtteryStCatchpole/pseuds/OtteryStCatchpole
Summary: Mia, a muggleborn, likes Draco. Hannah, her best friend, likes Snape.How could anything other than chaos be expected?Excerpt: “Anyone who likes Snape has issues”“You’re a muggleborn with a thing for a blood supremacist. Think you win boo” Hannah found it all a bit comical really, picking up her cauldron and pouring out her potion into a bottle to leave with Snape and get graded.“Least he’s my age” She retorted, pouring out her own potion, “and actually washes his hair”“I want to swim in that man’s grease”“Ohmygod I’m so done with you”.Slight changes to canon (Ginny is in Slytherin) but otherwise the same. Set around ootp.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Cedric Diggory, Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Outside it was a bright day, the last of the summer sun soaking into the castle walls and making the grounds a vibrant green. Mia didn’t want to leave. Lounging in the courtyard, under the sun, it felt like a warm hug was being given to her by the world. Her next lesson was potions, where the glorious sunlight would have to fight its way through the darkened windows, barely noticeable in the cold and damp room. Even on a hot day such as this Mia found herself keeping her robes on for warmth in the dungeons. Student’s filtered in, continuing their discussions from the break as they unpacked their ingredients, books and any other equipment they would need.

“Silence” Snape’s voice pierced through the room without ever needing to raise above talking level. Every student fell silent as Snape made his way to the front of the class, looking as bitter and resentful as ever, hair especially greasy, probably a result of the unwaveringly hot weather. His presence hung in the air like a breath on the back of your neck, making even the most relaxed person uncomfortable. “Today we will be brewing Amortentia. Can _anyone_ ” he dragged out the word, looking from student to student as if they were a bunch of thick trolls barely able to understand him rather than wizards, “what this potion is”. The room remained silent for a minute, students intimidated by the idea of answering until a Slytherin raised their hand, relieving others from the worry.

“It’s a love potion Sir, the most powerful love potion there is”

“Correct. 5 points to Slytherin” He looked around the room, as if trying to find someone he could take points away from now that he’d been so generous as to give them out. When no one stirred, he continued, “It is a potent potion with easily soured consequences. For this reason, I must request you refrain from brewing any beyond this classroom”. It was almost tradition that each year, when students were taught to brew Amortenia, there would be a series of poorly made copies floating around the school and causing mayhem.

“Sir” A Hufflepuff student named Susan had raised her hand, but not waited for Snape’s permission to continue, “is it true it smells of what you’re most attracted to?”. Mia could’ve sworn there was a flicker of joy, a fleeting smile, on Snape’s face before he pounced on the opportunity to dish out a punishment.

“5 points from Hufflepuff for speaking out of turn, Miss Bones” He emphasised ‘out-of-turn’ as if he would’ve given her permission to speak if she had waited, “If made correctly it will smell of what you most desire, what you’re attracted to if you must.”. Glances were shared between friends, everyone wondering what theirs would smell like, clearly wanting to discuss it but refraining from doing so until Snape had finished being insufferable. “Turn to page 400” He said, proceeding to give the class a demonstration of the potion before letting them attempt it themselves. Once brewed, Mia noticed the students at the very front of the class appeared in a happy trance, fumes from the potion wafting in their direction. “I expect a successful potion by the end of the lesson” He put the lid over his cauldron, freeing those students at the front of the class, and dismissed the class to start their work.

“Who’d you reckon is getting spiked this year?” Hannah asked, dropping three Ashwinder eggs into her cauldron alongside some peppermint, letting a gentle flame grow under it.

“I hear Romilda Vane has her eye on Harry Potter” Mia was struggling to get the right size flame under her own cauldron, praying Snape would not notice.

“Good luck Harry” Hannah let out a small snort, stirring her potion as a few bubbles rose in it. Romilda had a slight reputation for blowing potions up, whether in her own face or someone else’s. It didn’t take long for the room to be filled with bubbling potions, a mix of bitter and sweet smells floating in the air. Hannah was comparing her potion to Mia’s, looking concerned at the minute differences.

“I’m not sure I’ve done mine right” She had her head hovering directly over her cauldron, observing the pinkish purple liquid, and Mia pulled her back.

“You _know_ you’re not supposed to put your head directly over like that, you’re practically begging Snape to scold you”

“I wouldn’t hate it” She winked at her friend and Mia couldn’t stop herself from gagging, shaking her head at the thought. Hannah made a lot of jokes about Snape, Mia wasn’t sure if she genuinely had a crush on him or just enjoyed the adverse reaction it caused to say such things.

“You’re disgusting” Mia attempted to banish the idea of her friend and Snape, comparing the colour of her potion to Hannah’s. Her own was more of a dark purple, but the textbook had stated their can be a variation in the colour between pink and purple depending on how lenient you were with your rose petals.

“Smell mine, see if it works” Hannah asked, looking to her friend with pleading eyes.

“You just want to know what I smell”

“I mean, yeah, but I do have a blocked nose”

“How do you have a blocked nose in the middle of summer?”

“Allergies” Hannah pushed her cauldron towards Mia, “please?”

“Go on Miss Rosencrantz” Snape’s voice came from behind and Mia almost jumped from her skin. She resented how slightly he could walk around his classroom, watching students, waiting for them to mess up so he could humiliate them in front of everyone. A few students on the tables close by glanced over, hearing Snape’s voice, wondering if someone was about to be yelled at or lose house points. Mia reluctantly looked down at the potion then carefully wafted some of the fumes in her direction, careful not to inhale too much of anything. “And?” He said impatiently, clearly wanting Mia to say what she was smelling.

“Smells good” Mia commented, dopamine rushing around her head from the enticing potion.

“What does it smell _of_ ” Snape pressed. Mia couldn’t tell if he didn’t believe her or if he wanted to embarrass her in front of the class since he had no other target to bully. More people were looking over now, pretending to still be working on their potions, but it was clear where their attention lay. She glanced nervously at a Slytherin table not far from their own, heart giving a small rush, knowing exactly who the potion reminded her of. ‘Smells a bit like apples..’ Mia had mumbled, clear enough for Snape but hopefully muffled to the rest of the class.

“Speak up Miss Rosencrantz” Snape spoke louder, drawing in attention from the whole class now. Some people had even stopped brewing to watch. He’d seen her reluctance and jumped on it. May Merlin piss on his grave Mia thought. She cleared her throat, focusing on not glancing back over at the Slytherin table in case it gave anything away.

“Apples, peppermit...” She paused, letting more of the potion waft over, “and cologne” she concluded. A tinge of red was threatening her cheeks and she was thankful heartbeats weren’t audible. Both Hannah and Mia looked to Snape for approval, but he only seemed to sneer then move on. Had he wanted the potion to have failed? Had he wanted Mia to be more embarrassed? A few people looked about, trying to decide who Mia’s crush might be before losing interest and returning to their own potions. Mia’s eyes returned to the Slytherin table on reflex, wishing she hadn’t, her eyes catching those blue one’s belonging to a platinum haired boy. Her breath caught in her throat, but thankfully he looked away fairly quickly, not reacting. He didn’t know. She was safe.

“Who is it” Hannah whispered, demanding her friend’s attention back.

“I’m not telling you”

“Then I’m assuming it’s Snape. He _is_ irresistible, didn’t strike me as an apple person though” Mia bit her tongue but smiled slightly from her friend’s joke. When Mia didn’t respond, Hannah decided to try again, “but really. Who was it?”

“Han” She tried to shut her up, but once Hannah wanted to know something it was hard not to tell her.

“Not even gonna tell your _best_ friend. I see. You hate me”. Mia rolled her eyes, but part of her did want to tell Hannah. It would be nice to actually be able to talk to someone about her crush.

“You’ve got to promise not to be obvious with it”

“Promise” Hannah nodded eagerly, a smile spread on her face as she waited for the gossip.

“It’s Draco” Mia spoke so quietly Hannah practically had to read her lips instead of listen.

“Draco?!” Hannah whispered shouted and Mia could’ve jinxed her there and then. That was _NOT_ discreet of her. Mia looked about in a panic, trying to see who had heard and hopefully do damage control, but it was too late. Her stomach dropped as she saw Draco himself looking over, a slight smirk tugging on his lips, looking Mia up and down for a brief moment before returning to his potion. Fuck.

“Why are you like this” Mia whisper yelled at her friend, her anger and annoyance only just beating her embarrassment.

“And you say _I_ have issues”

“Anyone who likes Snape has issues”

“You’re a _muggleborn_ with a thing for a _blood supremacist_. Think you win boo” Hannah found it all a bit comical really, picking up her cauldron and pouring out her potion into a bottle to leave with Snape and get graded.

“Least he’s my age” She retorted, pouring out her own potion, “and actually washes his hair”

“I want to swim in that man’s grease”

“Ohmygod I’m so done with you” Mia found herself gagging again, both of them taking their potions over to the sinks to wash out. Hannah had got a combination of potion, water and soap over her jumper as she always did when washing her cauldrons out and Mia magicked it away for her as _she_ always did. As they returned to their table, Mia nearly walked straight into Draco but moved out the way last minute. He smiled, she died inside, haphazardly throwing everything back into her back when they’d reached their table, wanting to leave as soon as physically possible.

“Calm down captain obvious” Hannah muttered, struggling to keep up with Mia despite having less equipment out than her, “We need to head back to the common room before transfig, I’ve run out of ink”

“How have you run out of ink? We’ve barely used any”

“I forgot to take a new pot this morning”. Hannah finally slung her bag over her shoulder and they headed out.

“Oi! Rosencrantz!” Mia’s stomach dropped and she froze on the spot. It was Draco. For a moment she contemplated ignoring him, but she thought that might make him shout louder and that was definitely something she wanted to avoid. Hannah gave her friend the side eye, raising an eyebrow suggestively. “Don’t need you here Abbot” He said as he caught up with them. Hannah looked at him for a moment, appearing insulted by this, but decided to give her friend space, “catch up with you in a bit”.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hear you’ve got a bit of a crush on me” At first glance he looked a bit smug, as if he’d done something beyond simply look good for Mia to have a crush on him, but if you paid close attention, he seemed nervous. The confidence didn’t meet his eyes, happily boring into Mia only until she looked back and then having to glance away before correcting himself, eyes coming back to her and straightening his back slightly despite his posture being near perfect already. Mia wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say back to that. She could’ve tried to say no or be sarcastic, but she couldn’t exactly deny it after what had happened in potions.

“I might”. She couldn’t give him the satisfaction of an outright yes, but her voice sounded much meeker than she would’ve liked. Part of her was worried he may be doing this to try and humiliate her or was about to throw insults at her for being a ‘mudblood’ and even daring to look his way. But, she countered to herself, if he was going to do that he would’ve made a grand display of it in front of the other students, not pull her aside. Her hand tightened defensively around her bag just in case he was going to try something.

“Meet me by the astronomy tower tonight” There was a slight inflection in his voice leaving Mia confused as to whether this was an invite or an instruction. She was uncomfortably hot in that moment, trapped under his gaze, feeling herself starting to sweat from nerves. “Is that a yes?” He prompted, and then Mia realised she hadn’t responded. She had simply stared at him. Well that was embarrassing. She wanted to speak but it felt like there was a rock wedged between her check and vocal cords preventing her from doing so, so she nodded instead. He broke out into a toothy grin for a second, then settled down into a more controlled smile. “God Rosencrantz, hope you’re more talkative tonight” his smile broadened again, looking her up and down briefly, “I’ll see you later” and then he left. Mia remained rooted to the spot for another couple of minutes, processing what had happened, only moving when Snape emerged from the classroom, giving her a puzzled look.

Hannah pestered her throughout transfiguration about what had happened with Draco, barely concentrating much to the dismay of Professor McGonagall. Mia would dismiss the questions, saying she would answer them later in the common room, struggling to focus on her work nearly as much as Hannah was with thoughts racing around her head about what was awaiting her tonight.

“What happened? What did he want?” The questions rushed out of her the second the girls had passed barrels into their common room. Mia explained what had happened, right up to her not leaving until Snape had emerged from the classroom.

“Oh my god” Hannah stared at her friend for a moment, “so he asked you out? On like a date? A date date? You?”

“I mean unless he wants something from me that he specifically has to ask me in the Astronomy tower?”

“Do you think it’s a set up? I mean, he must know you’re… yknow, right? If he lays a finger on you” Mia had been too busy being excited to consider it might be an elaborate plot against her. With the reputation he had, she couldn’t put that past him, but Draco tended to opt for publicly bullying his victims or getting them in trouble to lose house points. He didn’t _seem_ like he was being sinister. Mia didn’t want to believe he was lying to her. He wanted him to have liked her.

“I hadn’t considered it”

“Are you going to go?”. Mia wasn’t sure. The sensible part of her was saying it probably wasn’t worth it. Even if it was genuine, the second he realised he remembered her blood status… but another part of her was trying to justify how this could all be fine. That he might not actually care about blood status like he made out, that he liked her enough to give her a chance anyway, or that if he did care he might never find out about Mia.

“I think I want to go”. Hannah didn’t know how to react. Normally she would encourage her best friend to be reckless, she often thought she was a little uptight, but she wasn’t sure this was the good kind of reckless. The Malfoy family had a seriously dangerous reputation. Lucius Malfoy even used to be a death eater, and although he had claimed to renounce the old ways, Hannah didn’t know a single soul who believed it. What if Draco tried to hurt her? What if his family tried to hurt her if they found out? This could end up with her friend being dead. Okay- maybe she was overthinking slightly here, but she couldn’t rule it out as a possibility.

“You know I support you endlessly Mia, but this could be _dangerous_. Think about who the Malfoy’s are. The forbidden fruit I know, it’s juicy. I know I go on about Snape but bloody hell if he made a move I’d be terrified”. Mia couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her friend, who so confidently made sexual remarks about Snape nearly everyday, backing away if Snape actually tried to do anything.

“So you wouldn’t ‘ _swim in his grease_ ’” Mia mimicked her friend’s voice, snorting, falling back into the comfortable and worn sofa’s which decorated the Hufflepuff common room alongside an abundance of varying plants.

“Maybe when I’m legal” She winked at Mia, mischievous grin appearing only to be replaced by a more serious look, “so are you actually going?”. Mia thought on it for a moment, but the rush of excitement she got at the idea of going made it impossible to say no.

“I’m going.” She said firmly.

“Then I’m coming with you”

“I’m not sure Draco had a three-way date in mind”

“Not ON the date you idiot. I’ll come along and make sure there’s no funny business on his end. If it’s really a date, I’ll leave you on your merry way to enjoy your forbidden love” She clutched a hand over her heart dramatically.

“I don’t want you ruining the mood” Mia frowned a little. She didn’t imagine bringing your best friend to the first date would set the best mood.

“I’ll hide somewhere on the stairs, under the tower, just to keep watch out for a bit. If nothing disastrous happens and none of his cronies are there, I’ll scamper. He’ll never even know”.

**

Mia spent dinner trying to avoid looking at Draco. She didn’t want to seem too keen or like a lost puppy after him. She realised towards the end of the meal that Draco hadn’t actually set a time for the date, so decided to head up pretty soon after she was finished eating. She was thankful Draco wasn’t already at the Astronomy tower, as that would’ve put a dent in their plan for Hannah to watch her back. Hannah did as she’d said, hiding into an alcove along the staircase, and Mia was impressed at how invisible she’d managed to make herself. The sky was beginning to turn dark, but wasn’t quite there yet, a purple and orange hue coming from over the dark forest. Mia leant against the railing of the astronomy tower, taking it all in. She didn’t often take time to appreciate the breath-taking views they got at Hogwarts.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” He said from behind her. Mia hadn’t heard him approach, and once she’d got over the minor scare, she wondered if he’d been so quiet on purpose. She nodded, turning her head to look at him as he joined her at the railing, a gentle breeze flowing through the open tower. He was wearing dark jeans, almost mistakeable for suit trousers, accompanied by a black turtle-neck top decorated by a small, silver serpent pin badge. Draco, ever the well-dressed. He set his hands on the railing then dropped himself down to sit on the edge, dangling his legs over the tower, “It’s even better if you do this”. Mia grinned, copying him and dropping down, questioning whether she should sit slightly closer to him than she had been stood, but he answered the question for her by shuffling closer, “I don’t bite”. He was speaking with a teasing yet gentle tone, not quite sure where he stood with Mia yet and not wanting to upset the pretty girl sat next to him. His eyes didn’t so much care for the view of the Hogwarts ground as they did for Mia herself, she was a much better view in his opinion, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, so made sure to split his time between looking at the increasingly dark sky and her, “You don’t talk much”. Mia was more than aware of this fact. Normally she had no issues speaking, but she was at a loss for words right now. Her head was screaming at her to say something, to not be weird, that she was going to put him off if she just sat there like a mute all night, but Draco wasn’t put off at all. “No need to hold on so tight love, you’re safe” He placed his hand over hers which was tightly wound around the railing. She hadn’t noticed just how tight until he pointed it out, but her hand was nearly white from strain. His hand over hers sent a wave of warm pinpricks under her skin with a burst of dopamine to match. Then he offered his hand to hold instead, fingers spread for hers to slot in between and she immediately took it, a smile consuming her face. He stroked his thumb gently across her hand and, with a lack of conversation offered by Mia, simply began talking. He rambled about whatever would come to mind, nonsense really, but Mia loved every moment. She wasn’t feeling as shy anymore, making the occasional comment back to him, but she enjoyed the sound of his voice far too much to take over the conversation. When she made him laugh was her favourite. The way his head would go back, even if it was only by a centimetre, the crinkles forming by his eyes, the genuine smile on his face, the way he didn’t seem quite as composed as he did in their classes or even when he was smiling.

Neither of them knew what time it is when they decided to head back. Draco had insisted walking her back to her dorm, ‘Can’t have you walking alone in the dark’ he’d said, following up with ‘it’s practically next door to Slytherin anyway’. Their conversation on the walk back was more balanced between the both of them, witticisms being thrown about every sentence. Mia couldn’t have dreamt they would get along better than they did.

“Do we have charms together tomorrow? Or is that with the Ravenclaws?” He asked her as they stopped outside the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room and dorms.

“Charms then herbology”

“I’ll see you in class then”. Both of them stood smiling, not quite wanting the night to end yet. Mia was slightly worried that he hadn’t suggested another date yet, but she didn’t want to scare him off by planning a second one before the first had even ended. Draco was wondering whether it was appropriate to kiss her. The moment felt right, but last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable. Looking down at her as they waited for nothing, he couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. Light freckles decorated her nose and cheeks, eyes a pale sort of green and brown, hair that couldn’t decide between being curly and straight. Then Mia broke the accidental stand off between them, turning to head in for the night, and that’s when Draco decide he did want to kiss her. “Wait, Mia” he’d said, pulling her attention back to him, then cupped her cheeks and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. It couldn’t have lasted for than a couple of seconds but that’s all it took for Mia to completely melt. Draco could see this, torn being a smile and a smirk, both happy and proud to have made her weak at the knees so easily. “I’ll see you tomorrow” He whispered, then left himself.

Mia practically danced herself to her bed, every inch of her flooded with the feeling of being happy, smile permanently plastered on her face. She fell to her bed burying her face into her pillow, tired enough to sleep but not wanting the day to end. She looked at her clock, reading it was nearly 2am. Had they really talked for that long? She was going to hate herself tomorrow, but she didn’t regret it.

**

“Wake up” Hannah was jostling Mia, trying to rouse her, “You’ll miss breakfast if you sleep in much longer”. Mia’s face scrunched up, pulling the covers further over herself, pretending the day hadn’t started. “How late were you out? I was up til 11 waiting. I want all the details”

“two” Mia said, her voice muffled slightly by her covers.

“Merlin’s beard Mia” She wasn’t sure if she was proud or concerned, “went well then?”

“It went amazing” Mia pulled the covers down, a sleepy smile on her face, looking up at her best friend, “perfect.”. Hannah was pleased, she really was, but she couldn’t stop the concerned feeling she had about this. A date was one thing, but a _good_ date? A date that could lead to _more_ dates? Well that was a whole new thing. That opened the floodgates. What if he was using her? Trying to humiliate then dump her? What if he hexed her for being muggleborn? Got angry that she ‘tricked’ him despite it being his own fault if he hadn’t know. She just couldn’t trust that a Malfoy would be happy to date a muggleborn. Should she intervene? Should she wait to see where it goes? Hannah wasn’t sure, so decided they were questions which could be answered after she had a full stomach.

“Well get dressed and you can tell me all about it”

Hannah had never heard Mia speak for so long at one time. She was usually more of a conversationalist but had been monologing since they left for breakfast, “and he’s so much funnier than you expect Han. I mean, he makes a lot of funny comments in class so I guess I should’ve seen it coming, but really. He’s hilarious. And yknow he doesn’t like moths? I don’t know why that got to me. _Moths_. It’s just such a mundane thing, you don’t expect it I suppose”. The monologue continued throughout breakfast and Hannah was started to feel as if she’d been on this bloody date herself.

“And I was about to go, then he kissed me” She practically whispered the word ‘kissed’, clearly not wanting any eavesdroppers overhearing. Hannah almost choked on her toast. I mean, it was a date, that was normal, she could’ve guessed they might have had a snog, but she really hadn’t put much thought into it and she’s not sure she wanted to. Is this how Mia felt when Hannah made comments about Snape? She always looked like she wanted to vomit, and Hannah certainly wanted to vomit now. The thought of someone kissing Malfoy, of someone wanting to kiss him, it was beyond her.

“I’m really happy for you” She swallowed her toast, washing it down with some orange juice.

“You don’t sound happy” Mia looked deflated at the idea her best friend wasn’t as enthusiastic about this whole thing as she was. Maybe she’d spoken for a bit too long…

“No. I am happy. I’m just worried”

“Worried?”

“Why worried?” Mia asked as if she didn’t already know the answer. She had to admit, from an outside perspective there would be a million reasons to be concerned about this.

“I just don’t want him hurting you is all” She said, careful not to cause offence to her friend.

“I don’t think he’s that kind of guy, honestly Han, he’s not what he seems in class” Hannah cringed internally at that line, ‘He’s not that kind of guy’ usually meant that he was, in fact, exactly that kind of guy.

“Does he know you’re, yknow, heritage?” She didn’t want to speak too loudly in case others overheard. She wasn’t embarrassed by Mia’s blood status, and as far as she knew Mia wasn’t either, but she didn’t want to go shouting it out now this situation with Malfoy had developed.

“Well, er, you see” Mia’s whole demeaner changed, looking anywhere but Hannah, smiling like a naughty child caught with something they weren’t meant to have, “I may have told him a small iddy biddy lie about that”. Hannah stared at her friend. For someone who did so well academically, she wasn’t half dumb.

“You what-“

“It’s not a big deal. He said himself he didn’t think half-bloods have done anything wrong. I don’t think he’s all that prejudiced, not like his family, he just needs a little coaxing” Hannah couldn’t believe the words she was hearing.

“Not a big deal?! I hate to be melodramatic but his family have been known to _kill_ muggles and muggleborns. Remember that whole Quidditch world cup thing? Death eaters torturing those poor muggles? Can bet you ten galleons who was smack bang in the middle of it”

“He’s not a death eater Hannah!” She whispered shouted, rolling her eyes. Hannah did have a tendency to overthink and get ahead of herself.

“He might not be, but his father is. I just don’t want to see you hurt. I know you like him Mi but I think it might be smart to stop this before it goes too far”

“I’ll be fine” It was clear Mia wasn’t going to budge. Hannah let out a sigh, deciding to change the topic from Malfoy to her History of Magic homework which was yet to be done. She was trying not to show it but she was upset. She always imagined them having Hogwarts romances and being able to support each other, giggle about stupid moments, tell each other all the gruesome details, but with Malfoy Hannah wasn’t sure she wanted to indulge it. Hearing about it made her worried for her best friend, not happy, and no offense to him but hearing anything intimate about Malfoy made Hannah want to gag. She did not want _those_ details.

To Hannah’s relief, Mia did not spend their classes with Malfoy ogling him. There was the occasional eye contact and Malfoy had been bold enough to wink over at them at one point, but Hannah could live with that. Mia wasn’t dominating the conversation with talk about Malfoy either, so Hannah could nearly pretend there wasn’t anything happening between them. As she was getting the hang of colovaria, a charm to change the colour of an object or animal (a book in Hannah’s case), a paper bird flew over and landed on their desk. Hannah didn’t need to look around to know who from. Draco had blown it over.

‘Hogsmeade this weekend?’ It read. Mia immediately broke into a smile, looking across the classroom and nodding, carefully placing the paper bird inside her robes to no doubt keep.

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea” Hannah tried once more. If they kept going on dates, and if they kept going on dates then things were going to get serious, and if things got serious they would get sour. She wasn’t trying to be harsh, it was just a fact. There was no way in hell Malfoy would willingly date a muggleborn, nor would he react well to being lied to about blood status and having been tricked into dating a muggleborn.

“I don’t care what you think”. Well that was the end of that conversation.

**

Mia wasn’t sure if she’d ever been as excited for anything before as she was for her and Draco’s trip to Hogsmeade. That friday lunch Draco had offered for Mia to come and sit with his friends at the Slytherin table, and after getting the all clear from Hannah, she did. She had invited Hannah to join too, but Hannah seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea and said she’d sit with Cho and Cedric. After about 10 minutes, Mia reckoned Hannah had had the right idea. As much as she loved Draco’s company, the people he surrounded himself weren’t the type Mia would choose. Crabbe and Goyle were sort of thick and brute-ish, not much to say and certainly nothing pleasant to say. Then there was Pansy Parkinson, who wasn’t awful for the most part, but she couldn’t seem to go very long without blaming something wrong in her life on muggleborns. She also seemed to have an odd obsession with a Slytherin girl the year below them, Ginny Weasley, ‘A whole family of blood traitors’ is how she would start, but inevitably finish with ‘and has the audacity to play quidditch looking like _that._ You know I offered to show her the ropes in quidditch, offered to help her with her homework, got her out of trouble with a prefect once and she _still_ acts too good for any of us and tell me to piss off’.

For their trip to Hogsmeade, Mia wrapped up warm. It was always snowing in Hogsmeade, and as Mia didn’t like the cold she would overcompensate with thick jumpers accompanied by a hate, scarf, gloves and two pairs of socks along with protective charms against the snow soaking her clothes. She had considered asking to borrow one of Hannah’s scarves, as the only one she had was her uniform Hufflepuff one and that felt a bit weird to wear when not about school, but it was warm and she didn’t want to be late for Draco.

“Blimey you look ready for the arctic” Draco had laughed when he first saw her. He was wearing what looked like a designer coat, obviously looking amazing, paired with some black jeans and black fingerless gloves. He offered his hand out to her, and she happily took it, lacing their fingers together. They went to Zonko’s first, laughing at the different products they had, Draco almost getting bitten by one of the nose-biting teacups. Mia had wanted to buy the teacup just to remember the moment forever, Draco’s excessive swearing followed by laughter when his nose was no longer in danger, but decided against it. Their next stop was Honeydukes and it was the first time Mia saw how much of a sweet tooth Draco had. He may as well have bought half the store, but Mia supposed coming from a family such as the Malfoy’s meant money was never something that would even register with him. Mia settled for just getting herself some Sugar Quills, not feeling a particular craving for an abundance of sweets. After trailing around a few of the other shops, they stopped for a butterbeer to finish off the day and hopefully warm up before the trek back to Hogwarts.

“You should stop by quidditch practise with me some time, could help me train”. Mia wiped her mouth, making sure her butterbeer hadn’t left a frothy moustache behind.

“I’m _awful_ at quidditch” She shook her head.

“You can’t be that bad”

“I swear the bludgers are scared of me I’m that bad”

“I reckon that’s actually quite a good trait to have for the game”

“Shut up” Mia rolled her eyes, taking another gulp from her beer

“Ah come on, it’ll just be me and you, it’ll be fun” He tried again, looking hopeful. Mia just looked at him, about to refuse, but something about the way he looked made her agree. She couldn’t say no, She wanted to see him smile. Of course, when it actually came to practising, Mia regretted her decision immensely.

“I was thinking we could just chase after the snitch, since it’s just us, and that’s what I need to be good at”. Draco had lent Mia one of his teammates broom and the site of it intimidated her. A nimbus 2001 may have been outdated now, at least by professional standards anyway, but it was much faster than anything Mia felt okay riding. She was more of a cleansweep kind of girl.

“Yknow I think you’re gonna win too easily” She crossed her arms over her chest, using the broom to lean on, “think I should have a handy cap”

“Oh really? And what would that be?” Mia pondered for a moment. She had not idea what would give her an advantage. It wasn’t like a head start particularly helped when it came to a snitch, as it was more about being able to find the thing and keep track of it than actually race and catch it.

“You should wear an eyepatch” She decided. It was meant to be a silly suggestion, and it got a laugh from Draco.

“Where on earth would I get an eyepatch from Mia?” He asked. Mia’s insides melted at him using her name. He would call everyone by their last name, including Mia. It made him saying first names feel special.

“Pull your hat over one of your eyes” The idea was ridiculous, but Draco probably would’ve hopped in a circle three times and yelled about unicorns if Mia asked him to. Anything to make her smile of laugh, to make her happy.

“Alright Rosencrantz, but I reckon if I win with this you owe me” He said, pulling his hat down over one of his eyes. It probably wouldn’t stay in place like that when they were flying, but neither brought that up.

“That is NOT how having a handicap is supposed to work”

“Three, Two..” Draco ignored her, swinging his leg over his broom, throwing the snitch into the air and watching it whizz off into the sky. Mia nearly tripped over herself trying to get onto her broom in time for the ‘one’. Of course, Draco wouldn’t have actually said one until Mia was on her broom, but it made him laugh seeing her mini panic, “ONE” He yelled, kicking off from the ground. Mia followed in suit, unable to breathe at first from how quickly the broom sped through the air. She felt like she couldn’t get a breath in with the wind she hadn’t noticed before blowing past her. It took all of 45 seconds before Mia somehow was upside down, struggling to spin her broom back around. Another 20 seconds and Draco was there, pulling her upright, making sure she was okay but shaking his head but amusement, “pathetic Rosencrantz”. Although she knew he didn’t really mean it, and hit him on the arm.

“Don’t see you with the snitch” she said, trying some form of comeback.

“Had to rescue my beautiful damsel” He continued in a teasing tone.

“I’ll make you a damsel in a minute”

“How are you going to do that?” He lifted an eyebrow, thoroughly enjoying the back and forth between them.

“Mmm gotta come here and I’ll tell you”. He eyed her suspiciously before flying closer. “Closer” She beckoned, making a point of not moving her own broom. He came closer, cautious but smiling. She leaned over, having to focus on not falling from her broom, pressing her lips to his ear then paused. She hadn’t actually thought of something to say, but she now had to, and quick. She placed a hand on the end of Draco’s broomstick, using to her advantage how distracted he was from her being so close, “like this” she finally said, and pushed down hard on his broom. Draco went spinning forward. For a moment Mia thought he might fall off, but after a couple of flips he regained himself.

“You little shit” He said, and Mia immediately sped off into the air, away from Draco.

**

“You? Play quidditch?” Hannah raised an eyebrow, looking up from her long over-due History of Magic essay.

“I mean, it was more just messing about on brooms” She grinned.

“Messing about on his broom” Hannah made the comment, forgetting for a moment about her reservations around Malfoy.

“Hannah!” was all that was said, followed by a cushion being thrown at her and inevitably missing.


End file.
